Cantor markets GOP to busy families

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) aimed to repackage conservative principles through a familial lens in a domestic policy speech Tuesday, hoping to market GOP ideas to the average American parents who want a better future for their children — including children of illegal immigrants.

“The average American is not thinking about and trying to wonder about where the Republican Party is – they’re thinking about how to make their life work… The point of my talk today is to say that we Republicans in the House are dedicated to those ends,” Cantor said during the question portion at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

On immigration, he praised Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and other Republican senators for their working on bipartisan immigration proposal.

Cantor, the son of Russian immigrants, also signaled that he was open to crafting policy for children of illegal immigrants who were not born in this country but were brought here by their parents illegally.

“People across the globe want to become part of country, and we must never diminish that desire — or worse, become a place that is no longer desirable,” Cantor said in his speech dubbed “Making Life Work” to a packed room of about 250 people. “It’s no secret that there are more than 11 million people here illegally, many of whom have become part of the fabric of our country. They, like us, have families and dreams.”

He continued: “One of the great founding principles of our country was that children would not be punished for the mistakes of their parents. And it is time to provide an opportunity for legal residence and citizenship for those who are brought to this country as children and who know no other home.”

He said he was pleased that the immigration debate has included border security, a potential contentious point between GOPers and Democrats. President Barack Obama’s immigration proposal did not link a pathway to citizenship to border security improvements, while the bipartisan Senate proposal did.